Fiction

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The following story is dedicated to anyone who can in some way relate to Faith. (to be thought of physically, or in a spiritual sense, just put yourself in my character's shoes, and float away ;)...)



I won't bore you with "and once upon a time in a place faraway...", as that is the way most people begins their tales...All I shall say is this; My name...is Faith. And this is not just any story. Its MY story...and so it begins...

My Father gave me something sparkly. It's beautiful and genuine. He at first had not intended to let me have it at that time. But the look of longing in my eyes and my young, little voice saying "please Daddy, can't I have it now?" makes him melt everytime. So he placed it in my palm, knowing I would get my way sooner or later anyway. His face was saddened as I walked away, tightly clutching my gift, but I was too enraptured to notice him.

The gift was beautiful, the purest of its kind. I was as happy as I'd ever been, for the treasure in my hand, I could now call my own.

Day after day, my Father would watch as I romped and danced and sang out in the shine of the oh so brilliant sun light. He watched on that day as I ran to the special place I had claimed as my own out under the old dogwood tree, now radiant in its array of shades of pink and white. In the comfort of that tree, I had found the most perfect little knot hole to place my precious gift in. It was a perfect fit, but the dirt and grime surrounding it seemed to detract a great deal of beauty from my dearly treasured gem.

And so again, my Father watched with saddened eyes as I walked away from his kindness. -His offer to make a beautiful, befitting place for my precious gift was very kind and thoughtful, yet unnecessary all the same, so I had told him. I just knew I could find some place special enough for my lovely stone, I just hadn't looked hard enough yet. So I set off again, only slightly ashamed of my stubborn behavior displayed to my Father.

But my shame was soon forgotten when I stumbled upon a most majestic looking rock ledge. Surely, my gift would look its best placed in that ledge! But as I set it in a little hole on the side of the ledge, I realized that I had made a big mistake, for the gem was stuck tight and didn't seem to budge at all as I tried for most of the day to get it back out again.

Finally, with my knuckles bleeding, being completely frustrated and mad at myself for doing such a stupid thing, I went to my Father and pleaded for his help. He came at once without words of reproach, he came only with that saddened look that had until now, gone unnoticed by me.

He worked gently and slowly on getting my jewel unstuck so as not to cause any damage to my beloved stone, and soon had it free of the rocky hold. I thanked him, but quickly turned away, fearing the tear in his eye was the result of a pain that I had caused him. And not wanting to admit it, I smiled sweetly and pretended like I hadn't seen it glistening there.

As my Father and I walked in silence back toward the house, I began to take notice of the way the evening sunlight splashed it's self over the brook in such a way that made everything have the appearance of looking very shimmery.

I excitedly cried out "Look Daddy, its the perfect spot!" And before he could stop me, I had dropped my precious stone into the glistening water below, only to watch it being dragged swiftly away by the strong current that I hadn't bothered to take notice of before.

I tried to run after it before it was lost forever, but I tripped and fell into a heap right into a big muddy spot, landing on all sorts of jagged-edged rocks and other sharp, pain-causing things.

Being lighter on his feet and more sure of his footing, I winced with pain as I watched as my Father caught up with my gem and was able to perform a quick rescue, and was soon back at my side to help me up and make sure I was ok. Bleeding, bruised, and dirty, I shouted at my Father as he tried to help me; "Why did you even bother saving that stupid thing?!? All its done for me is cause trouble, and if it weren't for THAT dumb thing, I wouldn't be hurt right now. Just throw it away for all I care."

The pain I caused my Father by rejecting his gift and blaming it for all my troubles (that I knew deep down were truly my fault anyway) was very visible on his face. But he said nothing and slipped the precious gem into his pocket. I could see plainly how pained he was by my actions, but at that point, I didn't even care. I only wanted a band-aid for my bleeding knee...Nothing more was said of the gem for the rest of that day, and for several days after it as well.

During the day, I would pretend as though everything was fine and like all was as it should be. But at night, when I thought everyone was asleep, my Father would listen as I would softly cry myself to sleep. He listened as I would lay there in my bed, quietly whispering to the darkness about what a selfish fool I'd been and how I believed myself unworthy of any gifts my Father could give to me, and most of all how I didn't even deserve the love he had for me at all.

All this he listened to, as tears of his own streamed down his face and onto the tiny, intricate gold pieces laid out before him. And as he listened to my quiet sobs, he would work, slowly and with precision, melting and refining and moulding and shaping the little gold pieces until at last they formed the daintiest, most gorgeous chain that had ever been seen.

The night he finally finished making the chain, he took from his pocket, a small stone. He polished it til the light in the room seemed to come exclusively from the stone itself. He put the finishing touch on the chain as he inlaid the stone, my stone, into gold and then attached it to the glittering chain.

It was after dawn by the time he finished and he just couldn't wait any longer. He rushed to my bedside just as I was waking from my slumber because of a rather loud greeting from the sunlight that had come bursting through my window. My Father stood before me, eyes shining and face radiant. Confused, I asked him what he was so happy about. Before anything more could be said, he had gathered me in his arms, danced me around the room, kissed me on the forehead, and placed in my hand a necklace so stunning it left me speechless.

After a moment, I realized just what my Father had done. I began to sob and tried to give it back to him. His only response was to hook ot around my neck and say "you are what makes me happy to be alive...I'm giving this to you to show you how much more you are worth to me."

The End...of the beginning

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